Too much top-off water?

[Potamus]

I brewed a Brewer's Best Red Ale kit last night and did a four-gallon boil for an hour. At the end of the boil, it appeared I had lost almost a gallon from evaporation, so when I racked to the fermenter I topped off with two gallons to reach five gallons. Only, now it appears from the lines on the bucket that I've got far more than five gallons of wort. I'd guess it's closer to six. I think I failed to take into account the volume of the LME when adding top-off water.

So now I'm wondering if I should add some honey or DME to make up for the beer being watered down. I don't care if it's a little off, but the target OG was 1.048-1.052 and this measured in at 1.036.

 

[trogdor447]

Careful on how much honey you add - It gets potent real quick. Do some DME / Sugar to boost it up if you'd like. It will still be a good beer, just a little weak i'm sure.

 

[Potamus]

Thanks. I think I'm going to try adding just a pound of honey to give it a little more ABV. Hopefully it won't dry out too much.